Asked in HealthMySpaceSleep Disorders
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Sleep Disorders
Do you actually require more or less sleep as you get older?
Answer

Wiki User
September 01, 2007 6:43PM
less sleep
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How much sleep does a 16 year old need?

Around 9 hours and 15 minutes sleep per a night, however this is
an average, many teenagers will require more and many will require
less, the best way to find how much sleep you need is to get up
when you are not tired any more and count the amount of hours to
when you got up and from when you went to sleep.
While making sure you have enough sleep is important, the
quality of sleep is essential in making it count. If you are
distracting by using cellphones or laptops in bed or immediately
before falling asleep, it can produce a less resting sleep. The
amount of sleep you need is also dependent on the day before and
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needed one night, try to regain that sleep the next night (this is
actually true as your body becomes more exhausted and weak than
normal through the day due to prior lack of rest).
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How many hours of sleep does an average person get per year?

Sleep duration varies by age, and by individual. Older adults
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recommended, as do younger individuals (14 to 17 hours for infants,
down to 8 to 9 hours for teenagers).
Getting the optimum sleep in an average year (365 days) would
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Asked in Health
Why does the amount of sleep decrease as you get older?

There are lots of reasons and explanations for this.
Here are two:
As we grow older, our blood vessels typically harden and may
narrow due to plaque buildup. When the body is getting ready to
awaken hormones cause the blood pressure to rise and metabolism
overall to increase. The narrower arteries in older people respond
more quickly to this stimulus.
Another totally different reason deals with the purpose of
sleep. Part of the reason a human needs sleep is that the brain
needs time to assimilate short term memories into long term memory.
Nearly all long-term memory is actually formed during sleep. Older
people have fewer new experiences to assimilate and more of the
long-term memory storage area is already filled with stuff, so
older people need less time to form long-term memories and
therefore need less sleep.
Other reasons, to do with growth, physical changes, physical
stress, etc., are also valid.